Tag Archive: Ben Mund

A new encyclopedic view of Fireflyrounds out a big year for Firefly fans. First there was the release of two in-universe books,The Serenity Handbook followed by the Hidden Universe Travel Guide, then more recently we saw the first novel in the series, Big Damn Hero. Rounding out a year of great books for Browncoats isFirefly Encyclopedia, by Monica Valentinelli. Fans of past books for Firefly and the Firefly Loot Crate magazine will be familiar with the tone and design of this series overview. From the cover to the layout of Polaroid-inspired snips, the book is part scrapbook, part in-depth look into the story in an in-universe style, part behind the scenes photographic essay. You’re likely to find new images of the ship and crew, even if you’ve amassed all the previous Firefly books.

If this isn’t the biggest assemblage of ships, weapons, props, and sets, it comes close, plus the large photographs makes this the best designed look at the production so far. The concept artwork for several characters is something we haven’t seen before, and here many designs for each character are showcased. And at long last, fans have a Chinese-English translator tailored to the extensive use of the Chinese language in the series.

Part one of Firefly Encyclopedia presents the Firefly story, the complete in-world tale seen in the series, as you may find in an encyclopedia. Next is a look at the characters, each crew member–both in-universe and the actors behind the character, followed by a brief look at secondary characters. The next section is a geography of the ‘verse, comparative looks at planets, tables, astronomy, and ships along with an interview with artist Ben Mund. A table looks at the technobabble of the show, followed by a treatment of futuristic medicine in the series. A wider chapter looks at even more costume designs. A final chapter digs into the scripts for the series, including analysis and commentary.

While we’re sitting around waiting for the latest Firefly Cargo Crate, we noticed a new set of high-end but reasonably priced playing cards was sporting some of the best artwork we’ve seen on a classic card deck. It turns out the official Firefly licensed collectible company Quantum Mechanix (QmX) has teamed up with graphic artist Ben Mund to create an exceptional new release.

Mund is known for his work on Serenity blueprints and the Serenity Atlas of the ‘Verse. With his new deck of playing cards he has created imagery inspired from the series and film, including Jayne’s rifle Vera on the Jack of Clubs, the Serenity on the Ace of Spades, and Inara adorning the Queen of Diamonds.

Note that this isn’t the game of Tall Card, the card game with round cards played in the episode “Shindig.” But if that’s what you’re after you can pick that up here at Amazon. This is a traditional 54-card poker deck, good for “Earth-That-Was” card games. These are Bicycle’s quality playing cards, the real deal from the United States Playing Card Company. And you’ll want to keep an eye out for Easter eggs from the series throughout the deck courtesy of Ben Mund.